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Book363 pages • 2 hours reading time

Great Big Beautiful Life

4.4/5
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About this book

The dazzling new love story and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick from the TikTok sensation and Sunday Times bestselling author of Beach Read and Funny Story. AN INSTANT NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER! ‘Emily knows how to craft a love story like the all-time greats’ -- Taylor Jenkins Reid, bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo ‘A new Emily Henry novel is an event, ushering in longer days and promises of summer’ The Skinny ----- When Margaret Ives, the famously reclusive heiress, invites eternal optimist Alice Scott to the balmy Little Crescent Island, Alice knows this is it: her big break. And even more rare: a chance to impress her family with a Serious Publication. The catch? Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud, Hayden Anderson, is sure of the same thing. The proposal? A one-month trial period to unearth the truth behind one of the most scandalous families of the 20th Century, after which she’ll choose who’ll tell her story. The problem? Margaret is only giving each of them tantalising pieces. Pieces they can’t put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room. And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story – just like the tale Margaret’s spinning – could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad ... depending on who’s telling it. ----- ‘With a delicious slow-burn romance, a perfectly grumpy hero, and a setting that comes to life, this one checked all my boxes’ -- Laurie Gilmore, bestselling author of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe ‘One of my favourite authors’ -- Colleen Hoover, bestselling author of It Ends With Us ‘I've loved every single one of her books more than the previous’ -- Ali Hazelwood, bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis ‘An expansive, sweeping love story that also feels so intimately tender.... Beautiful.’ -- Bolu Babalola, bestselling author of Honey and Spice ‘Nobody writes chemistry like Emily Henry’. -- Beth O'Leary, bestselling author of The Flat Share FIVE STAR READER REVIEWS ‘I loved loved loved loved this and I expected nothing less because duh it's Emily Henry.’ Reader Review ‘My favourite by this 'must read' author’ Reader Review ‘Certainly deliver[s] on the slow burn, sexual tension and romance’ Reader Review ‘Did I finish GBBL or did it finish me?... I devoured it’ Reader Review
Language
English
Publisher
Random House
Release date
April 22, 2025
Downloads
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AI-Powered Insights

A clearer way to understand Great Big Beautiful Life through themes, characters, and key ideas

This reading guide highlights what stands out in Great Big Beautiful Life through 4 core themes, 3 character profiles. It is meant to help readers decide whether the book fits their taste and deepen the reading once they begin.

AI Reading GuidePreview

About this book

A quick AI guide to “Great Big Beautiful Life

Get the shape of the book before you commit: what it is about, what mood it carries, and what ideas readers tend to stay with afterward.

~8h readintermediateromanticmysterioushumorous

What the book is doing

Emily Henry's "Great Big Beautiful Life" is a dazzling contemporary romance that blends a high-stakes professional competition with a compelling mystery and a slow-burn love story. It follows eternal optimist Alice Scott and grumpy Pulitzer-prize winner Hayden Anderson, who are both vying to write the life story of reclusive heiress Margaret Ives. Set on the balmy Little Crescent Island, their month-long trial period is complicated by an ironclad NDA, tantalizingly incomplete information from Margaret, and an undeniable attraction that threatens to derail their ambitions. The novel explores how stories are told and interpreted, questioning whether Margaret's tale—and Alice and Hayden's—will ultimately be a mystery, a tragedy, or a love ballad.

Key Themes

The Nature of Truth and Storytelling

Central to the plot, this theme explores how stories are constructed, interpreted, and what constitutes 'truth.' With two competing writers and a subject who only offers fragments, the novel questions if objective truth is possible, or if all narratives are inherently subjective, shaped by the teller and the listener.

Ambition vs. Connection

This theme examines the conflict between professional aspirations and the desire for personal, emotional connection. Both Alice and Hayden are driven by their careers, but their growing attraction forces them to confront whether their ambition is worth sacrificing a potentially profound relationship.

A line worth noting
Emily knows how to craft a love story like the all-time greats.
A good discussion starter

How does the novel explore the concept of 'truth' in storytelling? Do Alice and Hayden ever find the definitive truth about Margaret?

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4.4
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